Vladimir Putin Has Extended The War In Ukraine To 'A Second Front' In Europe: Expert

Some experts believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended the war in Ukraine to its second front by messing up with European gas supplies.

The Russian state gas giant Gazprom had announced that it would further slash natural-gas flows to Europe to 20% of Nord Stream 1's capacity from Wednesday — leaving the European Union member states to ration the use of natural gas amid the fears of a worsening global energy crisis.

"Vladimir Putin has really extended the war in Ukraine to a second front, which is the energy front in Europe," Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of S&P Global, told Yahoo Finance Live in an interview.

"He's trying to not enable them to achieve what they need, drive up prices, break the coalition … governments are breaking, and that's what Putin wants to see, and he's using energy to get there."

See Also: Oil Gains As Russia Leaves Europe Gasping For Natural Gas

Yergin further warned that the global energy crisis is far from over. "I think it actually could get worse," he said.

"The German economics minister, who has warned it could lead to a Lehman-style contagion, more likely it would be a deep recession because it would radiate out from Europe to the rest of the global economy," he added.

The result of high gas prices can be seen hurting the economies around Europe. In fact, a Munich-based think tank Ifo Institute's report showed that the E.U. member state Germany is "on the cusp of a recession" as the country's business confidence has slumped to its lowest level since June 2020.

The threat of a gas shortage and high energy prices due Russia-Ukraine war is weighing on Europe's largest economy, according to Clemens Fuest, the president of the Ifo Institute.

Check out more of Benzinga's Europe and Asia coverage by following this link